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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS King County (AG-157)exUSS King County (LST-857) (1955 - 1957)USS LST-857(1944 - 1955)

International Radio Call Sign:November - India - November - LimaNINLAwards, Citations and Campaign RibbonsPrecedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
Second Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (7) - United Nations Korean Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Following World War II USS LST-857 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal

23 September to 1 November 1945

18 November to 16 December 1945

During the Korean War USS LST-857 participated in the following campaigns:

Korean War Campaigns

Campaign and Dates

Campaign and Dates

North Korean Aggression18 September to 6 October 1950

Korean Defense Summer-Fall 19521 to 17 May 1952
3 to 5 June 1952
26 June to 1 July 1952
27 August to 2 September 1952
11 to 17 September 1952
8 to 15 November 1952
23 to 30 November 1952

Inchon Landing13 to 17 September 1950

Third Korean Winter9 to 15 December 1952
28 to 30 April 1953

UN Summer-Fall Offensive4 to 10 November 1951

Korean Summer-Fall 19531 and 12 to 14 May 1953
29 May to 4 June 1953
15 to 25 June 1953
12 to 14 July 1953

Second Korean Winter30 November to 9 December 1951
19 December 1951 to 6 January 1952
28 February to 6 March 1952
2 to 6 and 17 to 30 April 1952

Named USS King County (LST-857), 1 July 1955

Converted in 1957 to an experimental guided missile test ship and reclassified (AG-157), 17 May 1958. King County was assigned to Project Lehi Ė This project task was to design the prototype of the USS Halibut (SSGN-587) Regulus II missile storage and handling system. She was to become the Regulus II test and training ship, home ported at Point Mugu, CA..

One Landing Craft Tank (LCT), tanks, wheeled and tracked vehicles, artillery, construction equipment and military supplies. A ramp or elevator forward allowed vehicles access to tank deck from main deck

Additional capacity included sectional pontoons carried on each side of vessel amidships, to either build Rhino Barges or use as causeways. Married to the bow ramp, the causeways would enabled payloads to be delivered ashore from deeper water or where a beachhead would not allow the vessel to be grounded forward after ballasting

Armament (varied with availability when each vessel was outfitted. Retro-fitting was accomplished throughout WWII. The ultimate armament design for United States vessels was

2 - Twin 40MM gun mounts w/Mk. 51 directors

4 - Single 40MM gun mounts

12 single 20MM gun mounts

Fuel Capacity

Diesel 4,300 Bbls

Propulsion

two General Motors 12-567A, 900hp Diesel engines

single Falk Main Reduction Gears

three Diesel-drive 100Kw 230V D.C. Ship's Service Generators

two propellers, 1,700shp

twin rudders

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USS LST-857

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USS LST-857 moored pierside at Pearl Harbor, T.H., circa 1945-47.

Evan Prost for Jack Rudloff USS LST-857

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USS LST-857 loading relief supplies at Pearl Harbor for victims of a tsunami that struck the island of Hilo on the 1st of April 1946.

Mike Wade for his father N.G. Wade, CTC USN Ret

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USS LST-857 beached at Monterey, CA., circa 1949-52.

William Robert Caskey Jr. for his father William Robert Caskey Sr. (Bob) EM2 USS LST-857 1949-52

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USS LST-857 moored pierside, date and location unknown.

Boyd Campbell USS LST-857 1951-53

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USS LST-857 moored at Sasebo, Japan while loading incendiary bombs for the Air Force in Korea, circa 1952-53.

Boyd Campbell USS LST-857 1951-53

USS King County (LST-857)

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The Regulus II missile launcher for Project Lehi leaves the structural shop at Mare Island, 25 March 1957, on its way for installation abroad USS King County (LST-857).Mare Island Navy Shipyard photo # 33684-3-57

USS King County (AG-157) with a Regulus II missile being readied for launch, circa 1958. The structure behind the missile is a non-submarine blast shield to protect the ship's superstructure. US Navy photo from "The American Submarine" by Norman Pulmar.

Robert Hurst

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A Regulus II missile being fired from the deck of USS King County (AG-157) in the Pacific Missile Range off Point Mugu, CA., 11 December 1958.US Navy photo.